Just think of it this way:- With a playmaker Point Guard Yao Ming gets the ball passed to him by the Point Guard. The Point Guard will know how to paass and when to pass. The Point Guard will play Defence! The Point Guard will focus on Yao Ming as our Franchise Player and Scorer The Point Guard will willingly play within the JVG System. Life for Yao Ming is smoother his development is no longer hindered and the Rockets have the ability to win the Championship Francis will yeild two very good players and a first round Draft Pick. Yao Ming wont have any problem about becoming the Teams Leader with Francis nolonger on the Team, after Championships and becoming one of the top three players in the NBA, Yao Ming will never look back. Its possible!
Did you check his STATS before saying that he is an excellent Shooter? Steve is averaging 42.9% for his career upto yesterday.I am not realy sure but I think this season he isnt in the NBA top 50 in Free Throw Shooting .
Look, I like to see Yao and Steve get along so well, too, but they have been together for a couple years now, and the Mavericks have been their Achilles heel. Great win today despite the turnovers, but it is just that --- the turnovers, the trying-to-make-Sportscenter-dunks (JVG's reaction to the Cat-to-Steve-missed-dunk was priceless) --- which will put Steve on the block this summer. Would Yao get disillusioned with trading away Steve? Depends on who you get back. Iverson? Allen? An actual star small forward?
Thank you for this thread! DO NOT BREAK THEM UP! This team really can go far...It's gonba be great when we wow the world by getting out of the first round this year.
Uhm Cat threw the lob, I suppose Steve should have stood there and refused to jump The only question I have about Steve is how do we get him out of this slump? You f-in Steve haters are all the same, you were nowhere to be found after the game when it was clear that Steve had just busted his ace and left everything out on the court to get us that win, including the drive and dish to Yao that sinched the win on the 3 pt play and only now you all come crawlin out of the woodwork to plant the seed of doubt in all our heads again. You almost had me at the superbowl, but now I see through the BS. I see Steve is as important as anybody on this team and he has my respect and I for one believe he is getting it and that he will continue to get it until all you little SF3 haters have no legs to stand on. Steve has already begun chopping you down at the knees and it's only a matter of time before you and your same ole tired ace arguments crumble completely. Then you all can go off and be Bull fans or Sonic fans or whichever stud pointgaurd would have been perfect running this team and the true Rox fans will rejoice knowing you are gone. Praise Steve Francis, halle-flippin-lujah, I BELIEVE I BELIEVE!!!
No need to do any trade that includes Brent Barry, he is a FA this year. EXACTLY, may people understimate the talent and value of Steve Franics. We are talking about a 3 time all-star, highlight reel player who has put up 20-7-6 seasons (plus 3.5 TOs). We are talking about one of the 20 or so most marketable/sought after players in the league. But the next 2 statements show why we should try to trade him... The reason you trade a SF before Mobley, JJ, Cato or Mot is because SF is the only one (except for Yao who you can't trade except for Lebron +) worthy of getting a true star in return. Steve might be able to land you a stud 4 like Brand, Gasol or Randolph (probably another player too in the Randolph case). Then you take the MLE to sign Brent Barry as a FA. The Rockets would be a much better team and Steve would flourish on a team where he is 2nd fiddle for no one. It is a win-win for all who really have the Rockets and SF foremost in their interests. Set the man free and bring in better fitting pieces around Yao--it is pretty simple.
I agree ! Steve can still be called nice person in NBA.He is a friend and a teacher and a brother of yaoming.They are a good match!yaoming needs him.
I dont understand why people keep thinikning that Steve and Yao can not co-exist? Just because Yao clogs the lane for Steve and Steve wont give up the ball for Yao? Look at Tony Parker and Duncan, they co-exist despite the fact that TP is a penetrating and dish type of point guard. I do not recall him being a good entry passer either. As Sean Eliott mentioned earlier today, Yao has variety of skills and one of his greatest asset is mid-range jumper. When Steve drives in, he can slide to weak side and get open for easy 15fter. Just remember that game winning dunk against lakers (last year), game winning 'and 1 bucket' against mavs came when Francis was doubled and dished to Yao.
I just think SF is most effective in ISO or when he dominates the ball. He is probably one of the top 12-18 scoring threats when the ball is in his hands. However he is a much less special player trying to use other good players for his advantage (e.g., picks, motion) or moving without the ball. Other negatives is he isn't very disciplined for a PG (consistently high TOs and poor A/TO EVERY YEAR he has been in the league) and his defense is average at best. I think most of his faults are not due to his mentality or effort to fix things, I think it is that for a star his floor IQ in the 5 on 5 game of BB is just sub-par and has advanced/coached as far as it can go. When SF is on a team where he the 1st option, that team gets the most out of his abilities. He can almost turn a sucky team into a respectable one all by his lonesome. But as a role player or deferring star to the prime star (Yao) he just doesn't have the discipline or instincts to have that same impact. Consequently he would be more valuable to a team without an offensive player with his individual offensive talent--say the Warriors, Blazers, Clippers, Jazz, Suns, Grizzlies, Bulls, Hawks, Bucks, Heat, Wizards, Magic and possibly the Hornets, 6ers (if they trade AI), Magic (if they trade TMac), Celts (if they trade Pierce) or Rapters (if they traded Carter) than is his value to the Rockets . Thus if you can get anywhere close the talent in return for Steve Francis, most of the trades would bring a more complimentary player (or players) around Yao Ming. Were not talking for scrubs, traded for a comparable star or multiple good players. As for Tony Parker, it is of my opinion he is quite overrated as playmaker and point guard in general. You could sub a ton of PGs in that SA line-up without hurting what they do (remember many big stretches of big games last year in SA's title run Parker was on the bench). The Spurs have one star TD, the rest are clearly deferring players who focus on working off of him.
I thought you were being sarcastic with this but then the other portions of your quote defended keeping both Steve and Yao
what is an Offensive Rebound - JVG Rocket River Hard to doo . . .SF gets a bunch of Charging Fouls that should be called Blocks
For all those who want to trade every single player, relax. This team just needs to be slightly tinkered with. Bring in a big PG a la Antonio Daniels (not some rookie or young dude like Hinrich, it aint gonna happen ok?), move SF to SG and move Cat to the bench where he belongs. You know who Cat reminds me of sometimes? Another high energy player who has some skills but was better suited for the bench. Everyone remembers our favorite Knick, Mr. John Starks =) Bench Cat before he throws up a 2-21 in a playoff game LOL
you know what? i hate how everyone thinks they know who "the problem" is. There is no ONE problem. If anyone saw the game yesterday, which i know most of you did.. Mark Jackson made JUST as many boneheaded dumba$$ plays as francis. I mean shooting the 3 when no one is there to rebound? come on now Mark... you cant even hit the 15 footer. anyway.. he threw away balls, shot horrible shots, and ran down the shot clock yesterday. Im not blaming him, im just saying, dont just call out steve and cuttino.. if you want to be fair. call everyone out. actually, just shut your trap and say something good about the rockets. I mean, we grinded out a win with the problems we were having. Give the team props, they played their hearts out. And i absolutely love how they get really excited and show emotion when their teammates are doing well.. I truly see something special about this team. they play like they are stuck playing with each other, they play like they were meant to play with each other. This team is going to get far if it sticks together. NO TRADES! e
Personally, I would love for Francis and Yao to stay together. But I feel that for Francis to be effective with Yao he has to seriously cut down his turnovers and be more consistant on the outside jumpshot. I am not sure he can do that, but I hope he can.
